BEST SAMPLE ESSAY BASED ON "A SILENT SONG AND OTHER STORIES" (A MAN OF AWESOME POWER).

 

A SILENT SONG AND OTHER STORIES ESSAYS.

 “A MAN OF AWESOME POWER” BY NAGUIB MAHFOUZ ESSAY.

Basing your argument on Naguib Mahfouz’s A Man of Awesome Power, write an essay to justify the assertion that ignoring the much needed values in the society can cause pain.

Every peaceful society has guidelines that citizens should follow to ensure harmonious co-existance. When such rules are tampered with, the results are unpleasant.

A taxi driver suffers immensely when he breaks the simple rules that govern proper behavior. When Tayyib al-Mahdi hailed a taxi to take him to the heart of the city, the driver waved his hand at him in haughty refusal, speeding on his way without paying him further mind. This was hardly the first time such a thing had occurred, but Tayyib’s irritation was greater than in the past. Unknown to the driver, Tayyib had power from God to tell something to be and it would be, and he could do with it as he pleased. Even though Tayyib said that whoever was granted power like his had to use it for good only, his anger got the better of him. As a result, he stared at the rear tires and both of them exploded like a bomb. The driver’s journey was thus cut short, he had to pull over. He drummed his arms in frustration, glancing back and forth at the two tires. Even as Tayyib walked by and asked if he could assist the belligerent driver, this unknowing pupil glared at him – resentful and enraged. The driver had ignored the value of etiquette and had to suffer greatly.

Later on, an argument erupts between a man and a woman in the bus shelter. Tayyib could not hear what was going on between them but studied the dimensions of the conflict carefully. The man suddenly slapped the woman’s face with shocking impulsiveness. Tayyib was so startled by the incident that he focused all his anger at the offending man’s stomach. The brute was stricken by severe cramps and he unexpectedly doubled over, moaning and screaming in pain. He had to be carried outside for an ambulance to fetch him. Voices confirmed that he got what he deserved. He had failed to observe the rules of tolerance and suffers as his journey is cut short due to the pain he encounters. He fails to treat the weaker sex with gentleness as the society expects. Such people who go against the rights of women and protection from violence suffer a lot.

Tayyib was a man endowed with immense power and with such power came immense responsibility. He was only to use his power for good and he excelled at this. He performs many memorable services: fills gaping potholes, locks a dangerously hanging electric box, removes piles of rubbish, drains a sewer and compels Suleyman to pay taxes. However, one day a voluptuous woman catches his eye at the tea garden’s entrance. The woman was gorgeous and enticing – a perfect replication of his lost youthful dreams. He was swept by a surge of delight. His passions were aroused in a way he had not known since he first married Haniya. The surprise attraction, which was far from ordinary and hardly appropriate for one preoccupied with the mountainous burden of his, amazed him. Even though at first she barely noticed him, Tayyib sent her a hidden message. She instantly threw him an answering look. He desired intense pleasure and gave way to it in spite of himself. In one shared smile, he forgot both his faith and life. He closed his notebook as they stood up together, surrendering to their fate. When he later came back to his senses and returned home one evening, he realized that he had erred. This changed his mood and when Haniya noticed, he lied that it was only a cold. The pain it cost him could not go away. Worst of all, he was no longer favored with depthless inner confidence on which he had been drunk for so long. He longed to practice his secret power once again but it was impossible. He thought he was going mad. No matter how hard he tried, all he met was failure. Waiting until Haniya had gone out on an errand, he turned towards the television as he had done so often. The channel would not change. The miracle was gone like a dream. Pleading was pointless, distress useless, regret had no effect and awesome sadness would haunt Tayyib al-Mahdi until the day of his death. When he failed to practice self-control, this meted untold misery on him.

While refreshing his mind with a cup of coffee, Tayyib listened as announcer was mentioning development expected in the future. This annoyed him because similar prophesies had excited him in the past only to end up bringing frustrations. His chest tightened in furry as he listened to what the man was saying. He commanded the man from afar to say what had already been accomplished. He then remarked to himself that only sneezing would stop the broadcaster from speaking. Without warning the man sneezed massively, then remained silent. Resuming his chat he abruptly sneezed again, more emphatically than before. After that, he could not complete a whole sentence. The sneezes kept waylaying him until he was forced to conclude that an unforeseen illness had seized him. Rather than talk anymore, he instead played a record song “Walk around and see”. Tayyib decide that he would purify both oral and visual broadcasting of what was unworthy of their noble goals. He would terminate any talk that displease him by making the speaker sneeze spontaneously or emit trilling cries like those made by women at weddings. Humorously, he also had power to make any speaker who lied flee at the onset of uncontrollable diarrhea. He would be the trusty popular censor of the dangerous media of mass communication. The broadcaster suffers because he fails to tell the truth but peddles lies to the public.

In summary, individuals can suffer untold misery when the virtues that safeguard the interests of citizens are interfered with.

 

In your opinion, do you think Tayyib is justified to punish wrong doers?

Feel free to drop a comment.

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